Health hazards of cell phone radiation exposure

Cell Phone Radiation

The Silent Enemy

Cover-up?

Radiation

Concerns for All Ages

In Light on Concerns

The Big Question

The Privilege to Listen

CELL PHONE RADIATION

The Silent Enemy

Cover-up?

Cover-up? Conspiracy? Cancer? These three words, according to Brown (59) conceivably could denote concerns not loudly proclaimed due to.".. major government cover-ups and big business hush-ups, with the poor, innocent bystander caught in the middle... But there is a possible danger out there." Potential health hazards that may evolve from cell phones include noise in an individual's ears, memory loss, headaches, malignant brain tumors and DNA damage. Although current, often downplayed warnings regarding cell phones may not be as critical as those by Gale, a bone-marrow specialist on the dangerous radiation levels in western Russia, after visiting to treat victims of Chernobyl's nuclear accident, cell phone uses could benefit from considering evidence regarding this particular "silent enemy." (Gale, 1986). Although numerous reports exist "exposing" potential health hazards the FDA reports on its website: "the available scientific evidence does not demonstrate any adverse health effects associated with the use of mobile phones." ("How Cell-phone... ") Potential for harm, nevertheless, this writer contends, definitely exists. If exposed to high levels of RF radiation, the FCC admits, radiation may damage human tissue, as RF radiation can heat human tissue, similar to the way a microwave s heat food, and the human body is not outfitted to disperse excessive quantities of heat. The eyes are noted to be especially, as no blood flow in this area.

Each time a person communicates on a cell phone, a transmitter captures the sound of his/her voice and encodes it onto a continuous sine wave, conveys the signal to the antenna, which consequently transmits the signal. A sine wave, measured as frequency (number of times wave oscillates up and down per second) radiates from the antenna and fluctuates uniformly through space. ("How Cell-phone... ")

Cell phone radiation generates in the transmitter and emits through the antenna.

How Cell-phone... ")

Current statistics and studies regarding potential health hazards and warnings related to cell phone use are regularly confusing and conflicting. The following, however, have been noted to be possible "side effects" stemming from cell phones. http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/question648.htm" Headaches

Fatigue

Alzheimer's

Brain tumors

Parkinson's ("How Cell-phone... ")

Radiation

Radiation, Dees (166) states, "is not a man-made thing associated only with destructive weapons (and)...from many different natural sources, is a basic property of the universe that we have harnessed in ways both beneficial and destructive." Albert Einstein confirmed energy and matter present as basically varying forms of the same thing. This energy and matter may be displayed in manners that range from destructive, such as a nuclear weapon, or constructive, such from the sun, which generates life.

Negative concepts or the term radiation associated usually evolve from the most energetic forms of radiation, "often called hard (or ionizing) radiation, especially X rays. Less specifically, some people may associate radiation with radioactive materials and nuclear weapons."

The

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reports that electromagnetic radiation, composed of electric and magnetic energy waves travel at the speed of light. Cell phones, with low-power transmitters, operate on approximately 0.75 to 1 watt of power. The phone transmitter's position may vary but generally is placed near the cell phone's antenna. When talking on a cell phone, a person usually holds the phone against his/her head, the position where the likelihood exists some radiation will be absorbed by human tissue. ("How Cell-phone... ")

All electromagnetic energy falls some place on the electromagnetic spectrum.

How Cell-phone... ")

II. Concerns for All Ages

In Light on Concerns

Limit use by children. ("How Cell-phone... ")

Questions and controversies regarding EMF waves dangers began more than 50 years ago. Some individual insist no study ever conclusively determined EMF waves in fact, harmed humans. During 2000, however, amidst increasing fears regarding low-powered radio signals or electromagnetic frequency (EMF) waves from cell phones, Dr. George Carlo, chairman of Wireless Technology Research in Washington, D.C., on ABC-TV's 20/20 reported a "WTR study showed a correlation between a higher incidence of brain cancer and a greater risk of rare neurological tumors and DNA damage among the users of handheld phones vs. users of other types of phones." (Brown 59) To counter Dr. Carlos findings, nevertheless, Thomas Wheeler, CTIA's association president argues, "wireless phones are safe and meet the standards adopted by the U.S. government." says association president Thomas Wheeler. Quoting the World Health Organization, Wheeler says, "There is no convincing evidence that [EMF] waves induce or promote cancer."

The truth, amidst the controversy over cell phone harm, continues to be debated. Points and counter points include:

Vague safety standards exist as particular cell phones may pass the FCC's safety requirements when they are tested in one position, but then they may fail to pass when held in a different position, 20/20 reported. (Brown 59)

Some individuals have determined to cease using cell phones due to concerns that radiation may be linked to "diseases such as asthma, Alzheimer's and cancer." ("Alarm Grows over Mobile" 23)

Some marketers prey today's fear of radiation and market fraudulent devices, claiming they will protect individuals. (Nordenberg 19)

What a cell phone is held to close to a person's head, Brown (59) reports, "as much as 60% of the microwave radiation is absorbed by and actually penetrates the brain."

More distance between a cell phone and a person's body may decrease radiation risks. Replacing a regular cell phone with a mobile phone with an outside antenna may also provide another possible positive option. (Nordenberg 19)

More research regarding cell phone radiation and the harm it potentially causes to humans needs to be completed. Brown (59) quotes Dr. Stanley Kornhauser, president of the National Institute for Electromedical Information Inc., to state: "Consumers must understand that there are several questions that still remain unanswered concerning electromagnetic waves. But the big question.., is should we take comfort in reports that evidence regarding cell phone danger is not conclusive or should we take steps to mitigate or reduce exposure to EMF waves even if the scientific jury is still out?'"

Today's cell phone users, this researcher posits, would do well not to only listen to the person on the line they talk to on their phones, but also to flood or warnings to often not heard. As Gale (1986) notes: "There is a silent enemy lurking there."

References http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5005377616

Alarm Grows over Mobile Phone Cancer Connection." The Daily Mail (London, England) 3 June 1996: 23.

A www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001104247

Booker, Susan M. "NTP May Test Cell Phones." Environmental Health Perspectives 108.8 (2000).

A www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001169992

Brown, Carolyn M. "Bad for Your Health." Black Enterprise Mar. 2000: 59.

Cooley, Mason. (1988). City Aphorisms, Fifth Selection, New York. The Columbia World of Quotations. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996. http://www.bartleby.com/66/71/13571.html.[02 December 2006].

A www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002357895

Dees, Craig. "Radiation and Life." World and I June 2000: 166.

Gale, Robert Peter, (1986). Time 23 Jun 86. Simpson, James B., comp. Simpson's Contemporary Quotations. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988. www.bartleby.com/63/25/3125.html." http://www.bartleby.com/63/25/3125.html.[02 December 2006].

Holmes, Oliver Wendell. Sr. (1872/1996). The Poet at the Breakfast-Table, Chapter 10 (1872). The Columbia World of Quotations. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996. http://www.bartleby.com/66/85/28785.html.[02 December 2006].

How Cell-phone Radiation Works." (2006). http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cell-phoneradiation1.htm.

[2 December 2006]. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002372558

Nordenberg, Tamar. "CELL PHONES & Brain Cancer No Clear Connection." FDA Consumer Nov. 2000: 19.

A www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5001959293

Salford, Leif G., et al. "Nerve Cell Damage in Mammalian Brain after Exposure to Microwaves from GSM Mobile Phones."

Warning: Your Child's Mobile Could Cause Brain Damage Warning Your Child's Mobile Could Cause Brain Damage; Expert Says Youngsters Are Most at Risk from Radiation." The Daily Mail (London, England) 12 Jan. 2005: 8.

Cell Phone Radiation